“Hello?”
“Eric, it’s Kelley. I wanted to tell you-”
“Hold it right there. Is anyone bleeding?”
“No, but-”
“Anyone on their way to the hospital?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t want-”
“But that’s the point, Eric. No one’s on their way anywhere. With the severity of this storm, travel conditions are hazardous and getting worse. The airport has canceled all flights and most of the secondary roadways are already virtually closed. There’s also been a ten-car pileup on the interstate.”
She made a short, impatient sound, then continued. “So the bad news is I’m stuck. Here. At the Happy Wedding Lodge. Yippee. I just finished registering and I’m in cabin number twelve-two down from yours. And before you complain about it, just know that I’m not any happier about this than you are. Based on the weather reports coming in, I’ll probably be stuck here all day tomorrow and maybe Monday as well.”
“Is there any good news?”
“Nope. In fact, it just gets worse. In case you haven’t connected the dots yet, this means that Carol and Marc are stuck here, too.”
Eric pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn. His and Jess’s romantic getaway plans were sinking faster than a bowling ball tossed into Mirror Lake. “You’re right. That’s worse.”
“And just to put a cherry on top of this crappy snow-covered dessert, I just dropped fifty bucks in the lodge gift shop on essentials.”
“What essentials? Your cabin should have all the shampoo-type basics.”
“Chocolate. Chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, chocolate-covered pretzels, dark chocolate fudge and homemade triple-chocolate brownies. If ever there was a time that required chocolate, this disastrous outing is it.”
He frowned. “I thought chocolate was your cure for man problems.”
A few beats of silence followed his words. Then she gave a quick laugh that sounded somewhat forced. “Man problems, wedding problems, family problems-chocolate helps solve them all. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’m here. I’ll try to keep out of your hair, but with so many plans to finalize and me being trapped here, the effort is really going to cost me.”
“Well, bite the bullet. Cover your mouth with duct tape if necessary. I love you, kiddo, but I really don’t want to hear from you.”
“I know. And I love you, too. Most of the time. I’ll just feed my chocolate addiction and try not to cave and call you.” Her voice softened. “I know I can be a little…”
“Overbearing?” he supplied in a teasing tone.
She laughed. “Yeah. Sometimes. But believe it or not, I only want you happy. And Jessica, too.”
“I know.”
“I already said this at the lodge, but I’m sorry Jessica got so upset. I’ll put on my halo and say that the fault was mostly Carol’s, but I can see I didn’t help matters. When it comes to overbearing, that woman makes me look like a preschooler.” She hesitated. “And speaking of overbearing…how did things go at the bar with Marc?”
“I think ‘overprotective’ describes him better. Culling him from the Hayden brother herd was…enlightening. I think he may actually be human.”
“Oh? Are you saying you…like him?”
“Like might be a bit too strong a word at this point, but I do think he’s a decent, hardworking guy who cares about his family. Obviously he’s misguided where I’m concerned, but as much as that irks me, it stems out of love for his sister, and being a brother, I can relate. I don’t agree with him, but our conversation gave me some hope that things might turn around.”
“I…see. Well. That’s…interesting.”
“You okay? You sound weird.”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. In that case, I’m hanging up. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
“Words I’ll try to live by. But be warned-Carol and Marc might not be so accommodating. You better lock your door and take the phone off the hook.”
“Good plan. Bye.”
He disconnected then switched off the phone’s ringer, although with his sister literally only yards away and his future in-laws not much farther, he wasn’t sure how helpful that would be. Note to self: next romantic getaway will not be within driving distance of family. Or anywhere it snows.
Right. Miami sounded good. Of course that didn’t help him now. Damn. Snowed-in with the in-laws. Could it get any worse?
The instant the question popped into his mind he shoved it aside. “Don’t jinx yourself, man,” he muttered, then crossed the room to make sure the door was locked. He debated whether to tell Jess the latest development, but decided not to, at least not unless it became necessary-like if her mother banged on their cabin door. Without even trying he could think of about three hundred other things he’d rather do with Jess than have the “Kelley, Carol and Marc are snowed-in here” conversation.
He once again headed toward the bathroom. It was time to continue getting him and Jess back on track and do a couple of those three hundred things. Or four or five of them.
At least.
Chapter 7
“You realize the score is now five to two.”
Wrapped in one of the soft, white terry cloth robes provided in the cabin, Jessica sat on the blanket in front of the crackling fire and gazed down at Eric whose head rested in her lap. Dressed in a robe that matched hers, which afforded her tantalizing glimpses of his broad chest and muscular legs, he looked sated and sexy and more than a little smug.
“Yup,” he agreed.
“Which means I now owe you three.”
“Yup.”
“You don’t look particularly unhappy about that.”
“Nope.”
“Hmmm. You’re very monosyllabic.”
He curved one hand around her neck and dragged her head down for a lush kiss. “Your fault. You render me speechless.”
“At this rate I’ll be in your debt for the next seventy-five years.”
“Guess I’m stuck with you.” He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I’ll try to take it like a man and not complain too much.”
“Good. ’Cause no one likes a whiner.” She plucked a grape from the platter of goodies on the blanket and lightly traced the fruit around his lips. Eyes glittering, Eric snagged her wrist and sucked the morsel-and two of her fingers-into his mouth. After she slowly slipped her fingers free, he said, “Yum,” then took a grape and held it up to her. Mimicking him, she held his wrist and slowly drew the fruit and his two fingers into her mouth, swirling her tongue. Then sucked. Hard.
His eyes darkened. “You keep doing that and in no time you’ll only owe me two.”
She slowly eased his fingers from between her lips. After chewing and swallowing her grape, she said, “Oh, I’m going to pay my debt. In full.” She slipped her hand inside the V of his robe and smoothed her splayed fingers back and forth over his chest, lightly grazing his nipples. “I have plans for you.”
“The surprise you mentioned?”
She reached for her glass of champagne with her free hand. “That’s right.”
“If it’s anything like this fantastic chest rub you’re giving me right now, I’ll love it,” he said in a distinctly drowsy-sounding voice.
She looked down at him and saw that his eyes were closed. “Hey! You’re not getting sleepy, are you?”
He peeked one eye open a slit. “Um…no.”
“Uh-huh. Well, you look sleepy. And you sound sleepy.”
“Your fault, sweetheart. Between the sex, the hot shower-complete with more sex, the food, the wine and now the chest rub, you have no one but yourself to blame.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to revive you.”
“Shouldn’t prove too difficult. With one touch you pretty much do to me what rocket fuel does for the space shuttle.”
“Excellent. Then my surprise should really send you blasting into orbit.”
He peeked open his other eye. “Okay, that got my attention.”